If Prince turned into a DeMarre Carroll type player his good year with the Hawks I think he'd be perfect in this system. I don't see why he couldn't become that. The Hawks probably wouldn't do the trade you suggested but why not just go after Lin and Prince and run a 2nd unit of Lin, Curry, Layman, Harkless, Collins?
Yeah, that's better, Dedmon for Meyers just saved salary. Maybe Dedmon to Washington for their John Wall Injured Player Exception? They can get rid of Dwights broke down ass and run Bryant/Dedmon.
What I like about Prince is he's the kind of long athletic wing that kills us. Then we'd have 3: Aminu, Jake, and Prince, and to some degree Harkless, when healthy.
In 602 minutes this season, Prince has made 51 3-pointers. In 627 minutes this season, Blazer Seth Curry has made 50 3-pointers. The difference? Prince has shot .367, Curry .490.
Not to be snarky - but so what? The reason you bring in Prince (who isn't a "needle mover") is to replace a broken down Harkless. Curry's role doesn't change.
Lin can play with Curry on the second unit. It’s not like Stauskas is a good defender either. Trade Leonard, Baldwin, Trent, and our pick for Lin and Prince. Use the open roster spot on a buyout guy, maybe a big. Dame CJ Prince Aminu Nurkic Lin Curry Turner Layman/Harkless Collins
Lin is too good to play less than 20mpg. Cont see how itd work, since you'd have about 5 guard minutes left over for Curry.
I still think a guy like Prince would see a bump in efficiency playing on a good team like Portland, much like Harkless and Aminu did.
The funny thing is I’ve never been a Lin guy but he just seems like an instant crowd favorite in pdx to me. He’s a bit underrated, a solid 3rd guard imo. I guess if you need playmaking you go with Lin that night, if it’s scoring you go Curry?
Prince has been above 42% in catch and shoot threes since last season. Aminu hasn’t gotten close to 40% since he’s been in Portland. Teams wouldn’t leave Prince on an island like they do Aminu. Those percentages are probably one of the main reasons Portland is interested in him. We’ve been dying for a proper wing with a reliable spot up shot.
I was just running my eyes through stats and noticed the coincidence. You guys sure do look for underhanded motives.
For the record, I don’t actually believe Portland is interested in Lin. They may have checked in, but that’s more of a move you make if you don’t think you’re going to make the playoffs, and wanted to dump a contract. Considering where the Blazers are in the standings, their upcoming schedule, and the uncertainty surrounding Harkless, I think it’s more likely they use their pick to land a wing. Is Prince worth a late first? I don’t know, seems like an overpay, but I could see the teams thinking if they really believed they could get more out of him in Portland. It’d also make sense because they wouldn’t have to send any of their rotation players the other way to match salaries, as they would with a lot of other options. They could just waive or find someone to take on Baldwin. Yes they’ll take a luxury tax hit, but their core would also remain untouched. But before making that offer, I’d at least ask Atlanta if they wanted to do something like Dedmon and Prince for Meyers, Baldwin or Trent, and our pick.
I do think the wing upgrade makes more sense. Or wing depth, with Harkless' uncertainty game to game. I just wonder if Lin was a tack on for salary purposes more than a player whose services we were actually interested in. Not that he's worthless or anything, just not the spot we necessarily need. I've also really liked the way Layman has been playing lately. Not that he's a reason you don't look to upgrade, but is Prince one? I'm all for trading our 1st this season. I mentioned before we have intriguing youth in Collins, Simons and Trent we could be developing, it's not like we're an aging club. So I want that 1st dangled out there. I'm basically just talking in circles at this point. I like adding Prince, enough. If it's a TPE and a 1st for Prince, it seems like you're then packing in a lot of bodies. Lillard/Turner CJ/Curry Prince/Harkless/Layman Aminu/Collins Nurk/Leonard And it's a lot of mediocre bodies at the SF position, with none being head and shoulders above the other. Now, if it's Turner and 1st for Lin and Prince, that balances things a bit better, and is a big $$ saver. As dumb as it is when saving that much $$, I do still worry about losing Turner's defense off the bench, in replace of adding Lin to the rotation. Is your bench 4 in the playoffs Lin, Curry, Collins Layman? With Harkless injured, and Prince starting. Is that any better than we are now?
